Once, four friends went to a desolate beach on a weekday afternoon. The sand was hot, and the only sign of civilization was a white washed village far of in the distance. They decided to take a walk along the beach, even though the heat was penetrating through the soles of their shoes. There was no point in turning back now, as the rickshaw driver that reluctantly dropped them off had left a long time ago. As they walked along this narrow yet long stretch of beach, they came upon an island; a small island cut off from the mainland by a few meters of water only two and a half feet deep. The island was broad and had vegetation growing on it. The sand looked firm and had shells on the far end. It was almost as if it was calling out to them. So they decided to wade through the knee deep water and check out the island. It was better than it looked. Not only were there colourful shells at the far end, but the sand was a bit damp and hence much cooler. They enjoyed their time out there. They sat and watched the sea and flung sand balls at each other. But as time passed, they noticed something a bit odd: the island was shrinking in size! They jumped up and made a dash for the ever widening channel. They were dumbfounded! How could this have happened? One moment they were digging the foundation for a sand castle, and the next, they were frantically scouting the edge for a shallow point to get back to the main land! They finally narrowed down on one place, and started to walk, and then invariably swim across to the other side. When they finally reached the other side, they were all wet, their wallets were drenched and their phones had all but conked out. They found a large log, a few meters away from where they landed, and used it to dry their shoes, and socks, and money. After hopping around in the hot sand they found some solace under the shade of a casuarinas tree. There, the four friends rested, and talked. They talked about the day they just had. They talked about the days gone by and the days to come. They planned their future, and they buried the past. They talked for a long time, but not too long, as they had another adventure lying ahead of them; they had to hit the main road, before it was too late.
